As part of a bipartisan trend in Arizona, Representative Juan Ciscomani is choosing not to collect his congressional salary during the government shutdown.
The Republican representing the sixth congressional district told AZPM he is forgoing his paychecks during the shutdown out of solidarity with federal workers. There are over 20,000 civilian federal workers and military members in Ciscomani’s district.
He said he “would be happy to look at” a bill codifying a pay freeze for all members of Congress during shutdowns.
“If no one else is getting paid in the federal government, members of Congress shouldn’t either. And if that needs to be dealt with legislatively, that may be an incentive to stop these political games,” he said.
Funding for the federal government ran out on September 30. Efforts to keep the government funded faltered because of a dispute over enhanced healthcare subsidies first enacted by Congress during the Biden administration. The enhanced subsidies, which are set to run out at the end of 2025, lowered costs for millions of people insured through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
Before the shutdown, Democrats refused to pass any short-term funding bill that didn’t extend the enhanced subsidies past 2025. Republicans, meanwhile, argued that a subsidy-less, short-term bill would buy time for negotiations. The party was divided on the issue: some totally opposed the enhanced subsidies, many criticized their cost, and a few publicly supported them.
Ciscomani voted for the short-term GOP bill without subsidy extensions. Earlier this fall, Ciscomani had been in the latter camp when he joined swing-district Republicans and some Democrats to propose extending the subsidies through 2026.
That bill didn’t get a House vote, nor did a later Democratic bill to extend the subsidies while funding the government. On Thursday, Ciscomani blamed Democrats for the shutdown.
“The only way to end this shutdown is for Democrats to realize this is a bad idea,” he said.
He encouraged Senate Democrats to back the GOP short-term funding bill “so that we can vote, reopen the government, and then continue the negotiations with the policy wishlist that they approached us with.”
According to nonpartisan health policy research organization KFF, average out-of-pocket premiums for people with ACA insurance plans will more than double in 2026 if subsidies aren’t extended.
Ciscomani also criticized Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego for “voting, literally, to shut the government down” while collecting his paycheck.
Gallego had told NBC News) Tuesday that skipping his paychecks is “not feasible.”
“I’m not wealthy, and I have three kids. I would basically be missing, you know, mortgage payments, rent payments, child support,” he had told the national outlet.
“By Republicans’ theory, all Republicans should give up their health care since they’re hellbent on cutting health care for millions of Americans. Senator Gallego, like nearly all Americans, relies on his salary to raise his kids, and won’t participate in this bad-faith Republican virtue-signaling,” a spokesperson for Gallego wrote to AZPM Thursday.
According to Gallego’s required financial disclosure, his wife left her job with the National Association of Realtors in 2024. The couple announced the birth of a child this summer. The disclosure indicates that Gallego took out a mortgage in 2021.
According to Ciscomani’s required financial disclosures, his wife’s LLC earns under $15,000 a year consulting for nonprofits. The couple has six children. The disclosure indicates that Ciscomani has held a home mortgage since 2013.
Reps. Eli Crane and Andy Biggs, both Republicans, also said they would forgo their congressional paychecks during the shutdown.
Democratic representative Yassamin Ansari said she’d donate her salary to Wesley Community & Health Centers during the shutdown. A spokesperson for Democratic Senator Mark Kelly wrote to AZPM Thursday that Kelly would donate his paychecks collected during the shutdown to “Arizona charities” after it ends.